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The Questers: Infinitesimal
The Questers: Infinitesimal is a short revolving around TQ after the events of The Questers: Blazing Requiem. ---- Ava had never risen the dead before. Or, at least never like this, never off of the battlefield, never with these intentions. She had thought about asking Matt for help a few hours ago. She had actually thought about shadow traveling to the Heroes' base and making him explain to her in vivid detail what you needed to do to perform necromancy like this. But she didn't. Because their relationship was still tentative. Because she could figure it out herself. Because he'd undoubtably tell someone about her stupid idea which would result in her being yelled at. By Nat, probably. Maybe Kyra, if she was feeling up to it. Or maybe Zack would surprise her by raising his own dead ass and telling her this was not a healthy way of dealing with her grief. None of those scenarios would actually happen. She knows that. She knows that almost too well. Her subconscious is just making them up to try to get her to realize was a colossally bad idea this is. Arcanna would do it, probably. She could definitely get Arcanna to yell at her. Ava is pretty she never wants to experience that. Her fingers tighten around the shovel. The blue paint chips off in places, and the metal isn't as shiny as it might have been. She supposes she could use her geokinesis to dig the hole. It would make everything go quicker because she wouldn't have to dig for hours until she finally decided the hole was deep enough. But it would give her less time to backtrack and think about this, and as much as she wants to go through with this she still doesn't want to chicken out when she's in the middle of the ritual-thing. Nat would be proud of her for thinking ahead for once. It's better than the alternative. Her eyes tear up and her muscles ache before she even starts to dig up the hole, so Ava takes a breath, looks up at the sliver of moon staring down at her in a gap in the canopy, and sighs. She should just cry and get this all over with, the mourning. She should stop what she's doing before see even starts - it's what Nat would do. She reaches up and wipes her eyes with her sleeve, then starts to dig. Out of all the bad ideas she's had over the years, this might be the worst. But it's better than crying in the HQ, or by the lake, or anywhere else really. It's better than waiting for something to happen. After she finishes digging the hole, she reaches in the paper bag for the chocolate bars only to find them half-melted in their wrappers. Ava scowls, tosses the shovel to the side, and rakes her fingers over bangs because of course she can't even keep chocolate from melting. Instead of dwelling on it further, she unwraps them and piles them into the misshapen grave along with the garlic toast. Ava isn't sure whether Zack would even smell the food when she summoned his ghost, or if having his favorite food in a pit instead of any random thing might make everything run more smoothly, but she has to try. She sets the paper bag aside when it's empty then stands back and stares at the hole. She finally takes a moment to stare at the forest around her. It's warmer than what Chiron and Mr. D. usually allow in the winter; she thinks it might be because of everything that happened recently. Everyone deserves that, she supposes. A break, a reprieve, whatever you want to call it. It would be a nice thing to have, she thinks. Then, she stabs her Stygian iron sword in the ground and lets the Ancient Greek words tumble off her tongue. It's like a sixth sense she has, or maybe an impulse is the better term, or maybe it is just an innate feeling that's telling her exactly what to say. Whatever it is, she wishes she discovered it before summoning the ghost of her dead best friend. A breeze wafts through the area in the middle of the chant. It ruffles her clothes and hair, causing goosebumps to form on her skin and a shiver to run down her spine. A gray blob starts appears from the bottom of the pit, swirling around into a spherical shape then an oval. Distinct feet form, then legs, a body, arms, a neck, a head. Something pops - probably Ava's ears - and floating directly in front of her is Zack Johnson who looks as if he'd never died at all. That's when Ava really starts crying. Without thinking, Ava reaches out towards him to engulf him in a hug and watches as her arms go through his body. She slowly wraps her arms around her chest, and instead of meeting his gaze focuses a glare on the ground. She isn't sure what she's more angry about: the fact that she's already sobbing or that she can't even give Zack a proper hug. "I really hope you didn't summon me just to watch you cry," Zack jokes. But even without looking Ava knows he's still reaching out towards her because she can feel a coldness settle on her shoulder. It isn't enough. It's not fair. Ava manages a brief smile as she shakes her head. I didn't, I'm sorry, I don't mean to cry on you, she means to say, and maybe to ask how Elysium is and if he's okay, but instead what she blurts out is: "I miss you so much." It's true at least, but she ends up squeezing her eyes shut as the tears stream down her cheeks. "I don't know how I'm going to do this without you." It's a stupid thing to say. She left him and Michael and Kyra along with Nat to go to college and make something out of herself, so she's already been without him before. She'd already abandoned him before. "Ava -" Ava finally looks up and stares him in the face. His eyes are the same shade of brown, the same almond shape, but there's something missing there. Even though he knows he can't actually touch her, he still reaches a hand out to wipe her tears. It only makes her cry more. "I'm not like Nat, I can't move on with my life. I don't want to move on with life if you're not in it." "I know." Ava doesn't know what that means because there's so many things he could be referring to, but she still chooses the one that she never gave any thought about until now. She wipes her eyes again, takes a breath to steady her words, and sighs. "I never told you why I wanted to leave with Nat, did I?" Zack shakes his head. "I was tired of this life. I was tired of fighting all the time, and I wanted to have a future that offered more to me." She takes another shaky breath. "Zack, what you said to me," her vision blurs, "what you said when I tried to run into that tower, I'm sorry for it, okay? I'm sorry for leaving you and I'm sorry for everything that happened between us. Everything that I caused between us." Zack sighs, then he smiles. His hair almost looks real when he runs a hand through it, and for a heartbeat Ava thinks he's alive again. Her chest aches just thinking about it. Her chest aches just thinking about how close they are despite being so far apart. "Ava, you know I forgive you for that, right? And if you need to hear it in words, fine. Ava Bankowski, I forgive you for everything you've done and whatever you might do." His spreading smile breaks her heart. "I wish you could have said that before." Ava admits. "I wish we had been able to talk more and settle everything between us." "Me, too." he agrees. "But you were doing your own thing, and I knew you were happy where you were. I didn't want to do anything to mess that up." Ava laughs. It's shaky, it's short, it makes her chest hurt. But it happens. "Gods, seriously? Nothing you could do would mess that up. If anything I would have." She adds, "I did it once before," in a small voice. "Ava -" he starts. "I know. I know." She smiles at him. "You should find Michael Yew while you're down there. I think Nat would appreciate seeing more than just us when she gets down there." "I would, except I don't actually know what he looks like." "Just look for a short, black haired son of Apollo with a bad temperment." Ava pauses. "Actually, just look for a mini version of yourself." Zack rolls his eyes, but Ava doesn't miss the fact that he's smiling. "How is it down there?" "It's decent." Zack replies. "But I miss everyone. I miss Annie." He pauses. "It's lonely without you all." "Annie misses you, too." Ava almost suggests that she could arrange for Annie and Zack to have a conversation like this, but she doesn't know if Annie would want that so soon. They haven't talked much since it all happened. Another breeze wafts through the area, and Zack's form starts to become translucent. It's like a computer glitch where his form keeps flickering between opaque and transparent, and Ava's eyes widen. She grabs at her sword, pushes the tip into the ground, and waits for his form to stop flickering, but nothing happens. "What's happening?" she demands, but she doesn't even know if Zack knows. "I think I have to leave," he says as he watches his arms flicker in and out of existence. "Some bullshit about my connection to Elysium being too thin or something. Can you do something about it?" Ava shakes her head. Her eyes tear up, and Zack notices this. "Hey, you can summon me again. This probably isn't a permanent thing." Ava shakes her head again. "That's the thing," she admits, "I don't know if I can." The same cold sensation overcomes her, and she knows it's almost time. "Before you leave... Zack, before you leave, you're my best friend, okay? After it happened, Zoe told me you loved me, and I want you to know I love you too." "I love you." Zack corrects. "I'll tell you about all the people I've seen when we meet again. I've already met a few famous people, so I can introduce you when you get down here." Ava's mouth splits into a grin despite the tears rolling down her cheeks, then his ghost dissipates and she's left with an empty grave. ---- "You're leaving now?" Kyra repeats with narrowed eyes. Natalie knows Kyra isn't actually angry, but she still tries to figure out the best way to placate the girl. The aftermath has been hard on all of them. "Ava and I have to go back to college sometime, Kyra." Natalie says softly. Kyra's gaze softens and the muscles in her arms relax slightly, but she still refuses to move them from where they're crossed over her chest. "We've been gone too long to begin with, and you can only manipulate the Mist so much." "I'm sure the possibilities are endless, Nat. If anyone can figure out how to use the Mist to the point of exhausting it, it's you." Any other time the compliment would have made Natalie smile (or roll her eyes because yet again someone is only saying it to get her to help them), but now it just makes a cold pit form in her stomach. She doesn't want to leave Kyra or Michael either - it's the last thing she wants to do in fact - but if she and Ava stay here Natalie's afraid she'll never be able to go back. Kyra huffs at Natalie's lack of response and folds herself into the recliner. Boxes stack on top of each other everywhere in The Questers' HQ; Natalie can barely see the floor, so she doesn't quite know how Kyra managed to fold herself so gracefully into the chair like a disgruntled swan. The curtains, a simple faded blue that came with the cabin when it was first built, are closed. The navy color relaxed Natalie when she always looked at it, but now the faded color looks like a desaturated sky. Natalie pulls her gaze from it to look at Kyra. She smiles for the both of them. "Kyra, it isn't forever. We'll be back in the spring." At least, she will be. Neither of them have spoken to or even seen Ava lately, and Natalie has a suspicion that Ava hasn't been keeping up with Michael either. She wants to know what Ava's feeling so she can help her, and she knows Kyra feels the same way, but while Kyra might want to keep them here so they can grieve indefinitely Natalie figures what they all really need is space. It feels awful to even think that. Category:The Questers (OC Club)